


Checkmate and Explosions

by thegreenwomanswalkman



Series: Afterlife [2]
Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Guardians of the Galaxy - All Media Types
Genre: Afterlife, Angst, F/M, Meredith tries to teach Yondu chess, Rocket makes things go boom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-21
Updated: 2017-06-21
Packaged: 2018-11-16 19:43:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11259675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegreenwomanswalkman/pseuds/thegreenwomanswalkman
Summary: Meredith tries to teach Yondu how to play chess before dinner. Something on the TV screen rattles her and she and Yondu come to an understanding.





	Checkmate and Explosions

_It’s strange,_ Yondu thinks. Not the fact that he’s here. He can accept that. It’s the fact that he’s spending his afterlife stuck with Meredith Quill. The woman who died so he could take Peter to Ego. The woman who had to watch him screw up her son’s life. And she _forgives_ him, which might be even stranger.

“That’snot fair,” Yondu snarls as he scans the board. It’s got black and white spaces on it, with pieces of the same color in weird shapes. They’ve got weird names too. _Bishop, rook, knight_. It’s enough to make his head spin.

“Yondu, this is only your second time.” Meredith rolls her eyes at him, which reminds him of Peter. “And we haven’t playing very long. The longest chess game was over 20 hours long. That’s almost a full Terran day.”

“Don’t got the patience unless I get money for it.”

“Just make your move, you big blue baby.”

Yondu scratches his chin, runs his tongue over his misshapen teeth, and moves one of his pieces. He doesn’t even care if he wins anymore, just wants this infernal game to be over.

“Wha’s for dinner, t’night?” he asks.

“Stew,” Meredith answers as she annihilates his bishop with her queen. She flicks his king over, watching with a smile as it rolls a few times. “Checkmate.”

“God damn it!” Yondu shouts as he stands. He glares down at the board, red eyes murderous. “I ain’t never plain’ this game with you again, Mer.”

The blonde shrugs and goes about cleaning up after the game. “You should get changed. We’re gonna see what’s going on down there once dinner’s ready.”

Yondu doesn’t understand how Meredith does it. Acknowledges the fact that she’s watching her son struggle through daily trials without being able to help him. Yondu himself struggles with the idea that he won’t be able to help the boy anymore. Not that he’ll willingly admit to anyone that he did in the first place, but he can’t keep secrets from Meredith.

He shakes his head and shoves his chair from the chess table. Yondu shoves his hands into the pockets of his Ravager jacket—Meredith keeps asking him to take it off inside out of respect—and heads up the stairs. There’s three rooms upstairs, like the third room is reserved for a special person. One bathroom, decorated in Meredith’s style, and a hallway that leads to the stairs.

Being a gentleman, Yondu didn’t argue when Meredith took the big room. Not that he had much of a choice. She’d essentially built the house from her own mind, so she gave the biggest room the flowery wallpaper and sheets. Yondu’s room is only slightly smaller, with Ravager colors. It looks like the inside of his ship and he often wonders how she got that image in her head.

Yondu swiftly changes into a clean pair of pants and a shirt that doesn’t smell as much as the rest of the pile. He doesn’t know where the clothes come from, or the food Meredith cooks with, but he doesn’t ask.

“Stew’s ready!” Meredith shouts.

“I’mma comin’, woman!” he responds. “Keep yer shirt on.” He heads down the stairs and finds Meredith with her hands on her hips in front of a big vat of stew. She’d learned early on that Yondu’s metabolism is much faster than humans, even in death, so he needs more than she does at mealtimes. He plops himself down in front of the biggest bowl and starts shoving food into his mouth.

“You’re such a pig, Yondu,” she says, her nose wrinkled up in that cute way of hers. He remembers how Peter’s nose did the same.

“Can’t help what I am, darlin’.”

“No, I suppose not. But you can learn some manners.” She whacks at his elbow with the wooden ladle and smiles when he snarls at her. “Now, let’s see what the kids are up to today.”

“Why do ya insist on callin’ ‘em kids, Mer?” he asks through a mouthful of stew. He swallows when he sees her glare. It kinda reminds him of the green assassin, Gamora, when she was angry at Quill or the world. Maybe women just had that stare that could kill with a twitch of an eyebrow. “They’s all grown up. ‘Cept the tree. He’s still a saplin’.”

“Well, I can call ‘em whatever I want. I’m dead.”

She says it with such conviction that he’s rattled. She just accepts the fact so easily, reminds him all the time about the fact. But he still sees her sometimes, upset at the fact that she can’t help her baby when he needed, or still needs, her.

“Alright, Mer. Put the TV thingy on then.”

* * *

_“Rocket!” Peter screams as he hits the button on his fixed helmet. It locks into place around his face and he kicks his rocket boosters onto high. “I’ve got it. Let‘er rip!” He shoves the stolen artifact into his jacket pocket for safekeeping. They’re on a mission to steal a Xendarian artifact back to its rightful owners._

_“You want a small one or a big one?” Rocket snickers on the other side of the com-link. “‘Cause I can do both.”_

_“Big one,” Peter responds. “We gotta get rid of this place in case they decide to steal something else.”_

_“Alright. Get clear and we’re good to go! You’ve got like five minutes.”_

_“Drax? Gamora? Did you guys here that?” He hears Drax give an affirmative but nothing from Gamora. “Gamora?” He hears a cough from the other side of the com and frowns. “Everything okay over there?”_

_“Groot wandered off! I’ve gotta go find him.”_

_“The bomb’s already been activated!” Rocket shouts. “I can’t turn it off. There isn’t enough time!”_

_“But what about Groot?” Drax asks._

_There’s a beat of silence before the frequency for Gamora’s com whistles in his ear. “I’ve got Groot.”_

_“Okay, get out of there as fast as possible.” Peter’s standing at the front entrance, waiting for green-skinned woman. “You’ve got less than a minute!”_

_“Peter!” The Terran looks up to see the assassin racing towards him. “Take Groot!” The small tree sits on her shoulder, holding onto one of her ears to keep himself steady._

_“No, you go.” He grabs her hands and all but launches her in front of him. “Take these!” He takes the extra rocket boosters from his pack and hands them to Gamora. “Get Groot out of here. I’ll be right behind you.”_

_“Alright, let’s—”_

_Gamora’s voice cuts off into a scream as Peter covers her and Groot with his body._

* * *

 

The TV screen goes blank.

“Peter!”

Yondu wraps his arms around Meredith as she launches herself at the screen. So far, they haven’t been able to control the TV. They can turn it on, but it shuts off on its own when it wants to. This is, however, the first time its left them on the edge of their seats.

“Let me go!”

Meredith squirms in his arms, trying to free herself. She’s got tears streaming down her cheeks, making them look red. Her fingers claw at his jacket, swipe at his cheek. If he was Terran, Yondu thinks, he definitely would have been in pain right now. But Centaurian skin’s much tougher than Terran skin, which is something he appreciates when he’s got one clawing at him.

“Mer, calm the hell down,” he shouts. Obviously, it was the wrong thing to say.

She turns around in his arms, fists pressed against his chest, and glares at him like she could melt lead with her eyes. Her voice sounds even, though he can hear the hint of frantic hysteria behind it. “Calm down? Calm down?” Her pretty lips turn up into a snarl. “I just watched my son get blown up and I have no idea what happened.” Meredith’s breathing picks up and Yondu can feel her heartrate accelerate. “So don’t you tell me to calm down!”

“I’m jest as worried as you are, Mer.” He finds himself doing something he would never admit to had he been alive. He puts his hand on her back and tracks the length of her spine with soft movements. “But if I know Peter, and I do ‘cause I raised at son of a…” He trails off as her glare seems to intensify. He coughs. “A super smart person. He’s prob’ly a little banged up, but he’ll be alright.”

Meredith sniffles and the tension rushes out of her body on an exhale. And, suddenly, he’s got an armful of Quill crying in his arms. He remembers doing the same for Peter, but only when the crew wasn’t looking and he didn’t have to hide his (very small) soft side.

“Promise?” Meredith’s word is whispered on an exhale as she looks up at him. Her eyes are so much like Peter’s that Yondu can’t help but smile.

“I’m a Ravager. And we always keep our promises.”

**Author's Note:**

> Part 2 is here! Super angsty but we get to see more of Yondu and Meredith interactiong. Also, if you want a visiual of the house Meredith created for them, just imagine Buffy Summer’s house.
> 
> I hope you guys liked it. Don’t forget to comment. It’’s greatly appriciated.


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